Phoenix Dragon
by BecomingAmanda
Summary: Draco dies in the final battle but he wasn't meant to. He is given another chance at life on the condition that he assists Harry in defeating Voldemort. The only problem is that certain muggle born witch saw him come back to life and knows the deal he had to make. What happens when after coming back the spells Draco has been under are lifted?
1. Prologue

Prologue:

Draco didn't know where he was. He didn't know when he was. His last memory was the fight, he was dueling someone, a curse was coming towards him, he tried to duck….

There was a deep rumbling under his feet that made him sway where he stood.

"Draco Malfoy." A chirp voice stated. Draco shook slightly and looked around for a source to the seemingly bodiless voice. "You were not supposed to die." They said. Draco decided it rather sounded feminine and decided it must be a woman speaking.

"I'm dead?" He asked rather stupidly. She-the voice-simply sighed in frustration and he shook his head to himself. "'course I am. Well then, if I wasn't supposed to what happens now?"

"Normally? We'd say too bad and you'd be reborn as an infant. But yours is a unique case, you see, no one has noticed yet you are dead. Not a single person has yet to check your pulse. Although we believe Ms. Granger may well have seen you hit by the curse she has no way of proving you died. So quite simply you are to be back into your body under one condition: You must help Harry Potter defeat the dark lord. Do we have a deal?" Draco could not believe it when tears began to fall from his eyes. All he could think of at that moment was his poor mother, grieving over his body. But then the image changed, she was now kissing his head and stroking his hair as they watched Voldemort's body burn.

"We have a deal." Then everything was dark.

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_(A/N) Hello beautiful people! Please show your support for this story by leaving a review, I will be uploading the first chapter as soon as it is finished but reviews always make me write faster and inspire me :)_


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

When Draco came to, he was lying on the grounds of Hogwarts while the sounds of the battle ragged overhead. He pushed himself up slowly and looked in horror at the blood that surrounded him. A further examination of his surroundings showed many bodies, both students and death eaters, littering the ground. He wiped a tiny bit of drool from the side of his face as he stood shakily. There was a loud gasp from behind him, and he swirled around to see Hermione Granger looking at him with shock.

"You were dead." She said simply. Draco nodded and reached out a shaking hand towards her, ignoring his upbringing. He couldn't stand on his own and he knew it, plus he needed to see Potter right this instant.

"Hermione, help me, please." He begged her, hoping she would ignore all the cruel things he had said and done to her in the past. Without hesitation she grabbed his outstretched hand and flung his arm around her shoulders. They slowly made their way up the slopping lawn towards the doors to the castle, watching all the time to make sure that the battle –which had drifted towards the forest-, would not return to where they were; being that both were helpless at the moment. Draco had never felt more exposed in his life, and other than the time in third year when she had hit him he had never touched Granger before. He had to admit that his skin did not burn or feel filthy like his father had always told him. If anything it felt rather nice, she was warm, her skin soft, and behind the scent of blood and sweat, Draco smelled some type of flower he could not identify.

While still unsteady on his feet as they made their way closer to the doors he felt his strength returning to him and no longer needed any assistance walking. They walked separately, although their arms were still linked on the off chance that Draco slipped.

Once they had made it through the large wooden doors and into the castle Hermione took Draco straight towards the great hall where she knew he would be able to rest but he resisted.

"Want to….help." He gasped, out of breath from the effort it had taken him to walk. She looked over to see that his already pale skin looked gray, and within the last few minutes the bags under his eyes had grown more pronounced. Alarmed, she dropped his arm and levitated him through the doors while he was too weak to protest. The people bustling about treating the injured grabbed him hurriedly, slapped some sort of energy potion (the wizard form of coffee) into his hands and went towards someone who's ears had blood bursting from them.

Draco saw Hermione talking to someone and pointing at him so he quickly downed the potion and felt its affects instantly. He felt as though he could run the length of the castle, or lift the Hogwarts express. He didn't need to do either of those right now however, what he needed to do was help Potter.

Draco had always teetered on the blade of the war. While his family supported the Dark Lord for the fame it would provide and out of fear, he also knew that his methods were cruel and wrong. He had been too scared to ever break away from his father or go against someone as inhuman as Voldemort. This was just the push he needed though, he had been saved from death for the soul purpose of helping the other side of the battle and he would not disappoint.

He heard Voldemort's voice inviting Harry to the forest and knew somehow that this is where the boy would go, that he would fall for the taunt and sacrifice himself to save the others. Draco understood only too well how that worked; he would do anything to save his mother, even if it meant his life. Hopefully him helping Harry would have no repercussions on his poor mum, and somehow he knew that it wouldn't.

Draco placed a disillusionment charm on himself and ran from the castle, stopping once he got to the grounds and once again was greeted by the sight of bodies. He passed Longbottom and Potter, heard Potter mention something about killing the snake and then watched as Harry slipped an invisibility cloak over himself. Draco could still see him though, and as he walked with him into the forest he saw him using some type of stone and all the sudden he could see people. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, a man that looked just like Harry, and a woman. Draco ignored their conversation, somehow knowing it was private and that even though he could see them maybe he wasn't supposed to. It took quite a while for the two boys to reach where Voldomort and his followers were in their little clearing, and Draco watched with no emotion as Harry sacrificed himself; somehow knowing that it is how it was meant to be. He then watches as his mother kneels down and asks about him and Draco feels his heart swell with affection for the strong woman in front of him. She announces to the surrounding death eaters that Harry is dead and they cheer.

Draco follows Hagrid as he brings the 'body' of Potter to the castle. Draco knows he is still alive though, and conscious to boot. Therefore he decides to help the boy out and disillusions him when he knows that no one is looking. He waits until he sees Potter put the cloak on to remove the charm, still somehow able to see the boy.

Everything feels so surreal to the teenage boy, and for some odd reason he nearly bumps into one of the Death Eaters on his way to follow Potter, something that surely would get him killed, but instead he went through him. Draco ignored this, ignored everything except for a voice that had suddenly filled his head. The voice told him to look at Longbottom and in doing so saw him incased by the sorting hat which had been set aflame. Without knowing how he knew it, Draco cast a spell which caused a sword to fall from the hat as Longbottom was finally released from its hold. He paid no attention to what he had done though as he let the puppet strings take over his body and he followed Potter into the castle. The rest of the battle consisted of Draco blocking the many multitudes of curses that almost hit Potter.

Then finally it was over. Voldemort lay dead on the ground and Draco felt himself released from the control of whatever had taken over him during the battle.

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**_A/N: Yay all the boring stuff is out of the way! Lol, I am really excited to get the back story part out of the way, because now I get to write the fun parts :) Sorry this chapter took so long, AP World History is kicking my butt and with the exam in a month I have like no free time anymore!_**

**_So my plan until after the exam is to update once a week, and after maybe two or three times a week._**

**_Please please please review, I loved all the ones I got from just the prologue, they made me smile :D Know that when you send those I get an email on my phone and smile like an idiot. So thank you to:_**

**_rairio_**

**_feelingcowgirlish_**

**_V.O.L. 2_**

**_and then a_****_ guest _**

**_your reviews meant a lot to me 3_**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It had been a week since the final battle had taken place. Hermione had stayed at the school and helped with repairs and the clearing of bodies after coming to the conclusion that her abysmal healing skills should not be tested on other human beings. While it disappointed her a great deal to have yet another thing that she was not perfect at –the list had grown rather large since they had left school the previous year- she had to admit that this was a profession she never could have been happy in. Too much interaction with people and no break. Hermione liked the solitude that would arise from school, when she could just sneak away to the library for hours on end and no one would interrupt her, although she also valued the relationships she had built with her friends the sometimes just did not understand her need for silence.

Now though life was starting to return to normal and Hermione didn't know what to do with herself. Harry and Ron had both been welcomed with open arms to the auror academy. Strangely enough though as _teachers._ She would never be able to see Ron as a teacher, but oh well she was going to have to try and get used to it. But now, Hermione had no one to spend time with after spending so much time with the two boys. On top of that she had been planning to go into healing but realized now that it was not what she was meant to do and so was therefore left with no purpose at the moment.

Maybe that's why she started obsessing over Draco. In the heat of the battle her main priority had been to get him to safety after that death eater cursed him and then she had left. Looking back now she finally had time to analyze the situation. First of all, the fact that he had been fighting a death eater, not a student or member of the order, meant he was on their side. The second was that not only did he ignore his pride to ask for help, but he had called her Hermione for the first time in their seven years together.

The biggest thing was his miraculous comeback from death. She knew for a fact that the death eater had used the killing curse, had heard him scream it and watched as it hit Draco square in the chest. She ran over quickly and touched his neck to make sure he was gone as the death eater ran on to assist someone else. There had been no pulse, of that she was sure, but she had been transported somewhere when she touched him, and for just a few seconds the battle around her had disappeared and she was looking into a dense fog listening to Draco talked to a disembodied voice. They were discussing Draco's death though, however that was possible. Hermione listened to his deal, unable to separate her mind, and then suddenly she was back in the midst of the battle and felt that first thrum of blood beginning to flow through the boys veins again.

Hermione wanted answers. Even in the wizarding world stuff like that just did not happen. She wanted to know if the conversation between Draco and the voice had truly happened, and if so did that influence his decision to run off after the battle? Was he perhaps taken back because he had been unable to help Harry defeat Voldemort? Because Hermione had been there through everything and had never seen the boy, and he wasn't exactly one to blend in to the crowd.

So that is how Hermione found herself spending the first Saturday after the battle; in Grimmald Place staring at the family tree on the wall in complete shock. There were Draco's parents, linked together by a single line, and under them Draco. There was a line extending from Draco however, and it connected him to Harry who had been added under Sirius as heir to the Black family. It was not a marriage link, or a family one however, it was a sibling bond, as emphasized by the green line which wove around generations of pureblood witches and wizards. Hermione wondered if it had anything to do with what she had heard when she entered Draco's mind while he lay dead on the ground.

She examined the map more closely upon noticing a thin crack after Draco's name. It was odd because this tapestry was spelled to remain in perfect condition. The crack did not appear to be random however, it seemed to match the lines that connected married couples, except instead of a purple line it was a straight crack the exact same length. How odd…..

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Draco was feeling far too dizzy. He didn't know where he was, or what he was doing. It had been a week since the final battle and while he was glad for everything to be over he wished it could have ended on different terms. He, being a Malfoy, was not welcome anywhere in the wizarding world. After they had destroyed the manor –deeming it too dangerous- he had no home, and what with the death of his father during the battle all his money had been confiscated. His mother had also gone missing and he didn't know the first place to start in looking for her. No one knew he had switched sides long before the battle, and now that it was over no one was even remotely willing to listen. He wished at times like this he could retreat somewhere with his dear Tina and forget the world existed. Oh, how he missed her.

His dark mark had disappeared thankfully, he was glad not to have a reminder of what he had done etched onto his skin permanently. A new scar had shown itself however, it looked like a finger print on his neck, about where his pulse point was, but could only be seen in the right light. He didn't try to understand it though and just continued on with his life as best he could.

Currently this involved walking through muggle London begging for money of any type. He felt awful doing this, like the lowest of the low. Him, a pureblood wizard. On top of that, one who had helped considerably during the war although no one knew that and no one bothered to even ask what his part had been during the war. The Death Eaters had all been rounded up and the more dangerous ones, such as his Aunt Bella, had killed themselves to 'rejoin their master'. Draco had laughed when he read that article in a paper he'd gotten out of a bin near Diagon Alley. Some people were just too stupid for their own good he guessed, including himself. What kind of situation had he gotten himself into, trying to impress his father? Had it really been worth it he tried to reason with himself. Honestly though, it had been. He loved his father dearly, and his father him though he rarely showed it. To anyone outside their quaint little home it would seem as though Draco were simply a lap pet to his father, but they didn't see the many hours the two had bonded while Draco grew up; Lucius had taught him how to fly the second he could walk, had read him books on potions and charms for bed time stories and then allow Draco to attempt them the next day. Draco missed his father.

Draco extended a hand to a man passing by dressed in muggle garb.

"Please sir, could you spare some change?" He asked politely, trying to keep some dignity in his voice. The man sneered at him.

"Why don't you get a job?" Was the man's reply and then continued on. This hurt Draco but he didn't let it show and continued on to the next person to pass him, once again asking as politely as he could manage, and the women dropped a small coin into his hand. Draco didn't know much about muggle money except that the coins were basically worthless and it was the pieces of paper you wanted. Instead of calling out the woman's cheapness he thanked her enthusiastically and almost smirked at the look of guilt that crossed her face as she glanced at the meager offering in his hand.

"You know what," she said after a minute of debating, "why don't I buy you some food. Does McDonalds sound okay?" He had no clue what a McDonalds was but agreed eagerly and the woman smiled before leading him down the street to a building covered in gaudy yellow and red decorations. She led him inside and he was met with the smells of grease and coffee. Oh well, better than nothing. The woman asked him what he wanted and when he told her anything she smiled sadly and ordered him a burger, fries, and a drink. He ate happily as she bade her good-bye and he stayed in the restaurant for many hours refilling his pop as often as he could while watching the muggle picture device on the wall. They talked something about how the world was recovering after a mass serial killer had disappeared. The police were still investigating but there were no leads to the person or persons who caused the deaths of over three thousand people, most of whom had gone missing for weeks before being found all at once the week before scattered throughout England.

Around midnight the manager came and kicked Draco out so he could lock up for the night and Draco reluctantly threw out his cup before exiting the building. The night air was cold and sharp, he drew his coat around him and thanked muggles for this piece of clothing which was much warmer than any cloak he'd ever warn. Wasn't the most attractive thing in the world though, it was puffed out and looked to be full of air, but it kept him so warm without the added concentration of trying to keep a warming spell up all night, and it'd stay while he slept.

Speaking of sleep, for the last five days he had slept on a park bench curled into a ball. He had been outraged when only two days after the Dark Lord's death the ministry was already knocking at his door and flourishing something called a warrant- the new minister Kingsley had added them in, some type of form of permission- to blow up his house. Draco had twenty minutes to collect his things, all of which had to be inspected carefully by a ministry official. Needless to say, the suitcase which he had shrunken to fit in his pocket contained very little, and with the ministry taking all his money because his father had gotten it illegally he was screwed.

Draco walked around the darkening streets and thanked Merlin for his jacket, ignoring the irony of it. Draco felt slightly dizzy after all the soda he had ingested over the last few hours and figured perhaps he was dehydrated. He discreetly took out a flask and used his wand to fill it with water which he drank greedily and sighed in content after he'd finished.

"Malfoy?" A voice called through the silent air. Draco froze and tucked the flask back into a pocket before turning to whoever had recognized him. He tensed up even more when he realized it was Granger, looking stunning in a deep red dress which clung to curves he wasn't aware she had. She tripped slightly as she walked towards him and he caught a whiff of alcohol that made him weary.

"Granger how pleasant, I see now that you are intoxicated my presence has become bearable to the great war hero?" He questioned snidely. He felt immense satisfaction in the look of hurt that crossed her face and made to walk away when she grabbed his elbow.

"I'll have you know that despite your rude comments such as that throughout the years I have always been able to put up with your presence for some period of time, it is yourself that seems to have the problem." She smirked at him and he raised an eyebrow in amusement, someone was feisty today.

"I'm sure that's just because you're so busy looking at this," he gestured to his body, "that you never want to leave." He flourished his statement off with a wink. Hermione took a step back, releasing his elbow and examined his body, her face turning red.

"Not bad Malfoy, although I have to say it's hidden behind that muggle coat." She said, before winking back at him. He couldn't believe it, the nerve of her to sit there and mock him, the filthy little mudb-

His mind wouldn't even let him finish the thought before he was on the ground in pain, clutching his neck tightly. It felt like all the pain he had experienced in his entire life was being channeled into that one tiny circle of a scar. He couldn't breathe, he was screaming in agony and had no idea he was even making a sound. He vaguely felt something happening around him but couldn't think, couldn't even open his eyes, until finally he blacked 2

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**_A/N: I would like to apologize sincerely for the long wait, Friday was the end of the marking period at my school and my grades have gone down the toilet with all that's happened to me this year. So I was putting the finishing touches on everything to turn in all week, and then today I had my first marching band practice of the year and my first one in color guard! After four years on mellophone it was really weird but I've never had so much fun and I think it might be the perfect cure to my depression :) Enough of my babbling excuses, I do not have school next Thursday so I will try my absolute hardest to update then haha._**

**_As always please review, they mean the world to me :) Thank you to:_**

**_ASlytherinInPigfarts for reviewing._**

**_Review pretty please you guys, I'll update a lot faster with motivation._**


	4. Chapter 3

**_A/N: Hi guys, so as I hope you have noticed the rating of this story has changed to M because some darker themes are being included. This chapter does contain rape. If you are not comfortable with that topic please feel free to skip this chapter and PM me for a summary._**

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Chapter 3

Hermione stood there shocked as the infamous Draco Malfoy collapsed into a mass of thriving limbs upon the pavement. He clutched his neck in agony and started screaming. Without thinking she grabbed his arm and apperated them to the apartment she shared with Ginny. The second they arrived she put him on her bed- she had a habit of apperating directly into her bedchamber after catching Harry and Ginny in a rather compromising position- and ran to her potion cabinet, pulling out the half empty bottle of dreamless sleep solution.

"Hold still!" She hissed at the Slytherin but he didn't seem to hear her and mearly continued to scream his head off. She sighed and tipped the entire bottle down his throat before pushing his bottom jaw up so he had to swallow. The effect was instant and he slumped back into the covers sound asleep. She muttered a simple spell which tucked him in and then examined his neck. There was a small circular mark on his pulse point, it looked like a scar yet it was bleeding and looked as though it had been scorched recently. She got some burn cream and smeared it onto the boy's neck before covering it with white gauze and standing back to admire her work. As soon as she was satisfied he was situated she walked out into the living room and found that she had made it home before Ginny, and sent her a quick owl to say she would not be meeting them at the pup.

There had been a charity banquet for the ministry Ron and Harry had dragged her to and after the plan had been to meet up at their normal place for drinks. Seeing as the pup was right down the street she saw no reason at all to apperate and instead had decided to walk the short distance to try and clear away the slight buzz she had accumulated during the party. It was a good thing she had obviously because by the smell of him and what she knew about the destroying of Malfoy manor she assumed Draco was homeless as an aftereffect of the war. Maybe if he wasn't too much of a git when he woke up she could convince him to stay her and Ginny could finally move in with Harry like they'd been talking about.

"Shit." She whispered. She had completely forgotten about the fact that the rest of her friends still knew nothing about Draco's change of heart. There were now two incidents in which he had proven to her that he was a changed man. The second and more recent one she of course still needed an explanation from because being her she couldn't accept that he had just miraculously come back from the dead. Hermione decided to ignore this for the night though, she was tired, it was well past midnight at this point, and all she wanted to do was sleep. She looked at the tiny couch in her living room and decided it wasn't worth the back pains; she'd rather share the bed with Malfoy. In fact that was exactly what she was going to do. She went back into her room and magically enlarged the bed to fit three people so there would be enough room between herself and Malfoy. Then she climbed, conjured a blanket, and rolled over to go to sleep.

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Draco was walking briskly towards the cellar of Malfoy manor. The Dark Lord was angry enough as it was and the second his aunt summoned him they were done for. Bella had demanded he bring to mudblood to her and he could not object even though he knew it probably would mean death for his old school mate. He got her and brought her to his aunt who tourtured her for nearly twenty minutes while he stood back and tried not to vomit. Then his aunt had gotten this evil look in her eyes and gestured for him to come closer to her. She whispered her request into his ear and he nodded, gulping. He took the exhausted girl to a nearby room and locked the door behind him.

"I'm so sorry," He began, undoing his belt and dropping his trousers, "But she'll kill us both. At least this buys us some time." Hermione began to sob uncontrollably and he felt awful, but his hands were tied. She nodded and he walked up to her and kissed her gently, cupping her shrunken cheeks. The girl beneath him felt frail, as if she might break any second. He pulled her pants and knickers down and tried to become aroused but found it impossible in their given situation. Feeling embarresed he had to use a spell to get to the proper point and then brought her to a chair nearby and sat her on it. He told her to close her eyes and that it would all be over soon, and then brought his mouth down to her privates so it would hurt less. He tried to prepare her as much as possible before finally he knew that he could wait no longer and thrust himself into her. He tried to think of other things and finished as quickly as possible.

He knew the proceedings for after this type of torture. She had to take her shirt off, and she now had to present herself to his twisted aunt so she could humiliate the poor girl while juices dripped down her legs. Draco vomited into a nearby basin at the thought and told her to go out by herself.

Draco awoke twisted in sheets on a very large bed with Hermione sleeping soundly next to him. He was covered in a layer of sweat and breathing heavily. He pulled the blankets off and stood on shaky legs, trying to breathe regularly. It was just a dream he tried to tell himself, but then why did it feel so real? A better question would be why he was here in Granger's room, in her bed. He wanted answers that very second and so decided to wake the sleeping girl.

He walked around to her side of the bed and shook her shoulder gently.

"Granger, wake up." He demanded, she stirred slightly and turned over. "Granger." He called again, louder this time. Her eyes scrunched closed and she burrowed farther under the covers then stilled suddenly. She jumped from the bed and raced out of the room, covering her mouth as she went. Draco followed her as she ran to the bathroom and proceeded to throw up into the toilet. He held back her hair remembering how drunk she had been the night before and taking pity on her.

"Hermione?" A girl's voice called from the other room and Hermione groaned before standing on her feet and walking towards the door.

"Stay here." She instructed Draco sternly and he nodded, amused slightly, all thoughts of his disturbing dream gone. She walked out the door and frowned seeing a disheveled Ginny and Harry standing in the middle of the living room.

"Who's in there?" Harry demanded. Hermione swallowed deeply and tried to come up with a lie.

"My boyfriend." She blurted out. The pair goggled at her and she blushed. "I thought you two would be at Harry's last night so he spent the night, but I've had too much to drink anyway so he'll just be leaving." She ignored the fact that her answer didn't really make much sense and walked back into the tiny bathroom where Malfoy had seated himself on the counter.

"You should really ask a bloke out before bedding him and claiming he's your boyfriend." He said with a smirk.

"Go to hell." Was her answer, he frowned as he looked at the witch in front of him. She had deep circles under her eyes, and her cheeks seemed hollow, though not as bad as they had been in his dream.

"Want to get a bite to eat?" He asked suddenly, she looked taken aback but agreed after a second of thinking, asking if they could meet somewhere as she had to shower and get ready.

"Why would I have to leave?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow. Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Because Harry and Ginny are out there so you can't leave the bathroom, and I highly doubt you want to watch me shower." Was her curt reply. Malfoy ginned evilly and leaned in closer to her ear.

"Maybe I do want to watch you Granger, I must say you looked stunning in that dress last night." Draco expected her to become frustrated with him and demand he leave, perhaps become embarrassed and turn red, what he did not expect was her entire face paling as her eyes grew wide. She looked like she had just seen Voldemort and Draco felt himself begin to worry, wondering why teasing her like that had invocated such a reaction. Then, like a ton of bricks it hit him. There was an image of Snape in front of him, Draco was crying hysterically, telling Snape about what had happened in his dream, except in his mind it wasn't a dream, it had really happened.

Draco shook his head to clear it and suddenly everything made sense and he stared at the girl in front of him shocked. He had done that to her and yet still he was here in her home. He frowned, why was he here anyway? He had forgotten to ask. Being around her made everything important slip from his mind and he felt as if maybe it was something along the lines of how one who has been oblivated would feel. He frowned slightly, thinking back to many of the books he had read on the spell. It was actually that was exactly how he would have felt had someone oblivated him and something happened to cause him to regain the memories. Everything started to come together, his godfather must have erased his memory in order for Draco to cope with what he had done.

It had to have been from when he died. It must have cancelled out the spell. That was the only explanation he could come up with at the moment. This moment of clarity however had been only that, a moment. Hermione was still trying to figure out what to do with him, and yet he now pitied the witch so much that he did something he never would have thought of doing before.

He drew her into his arms and held her close.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered in her ear, stroking her hair. She was stiff for a moment before she broke down and started crying.

"Me too." She said

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_**A/N: So I realize that yes I just posted last night, but I was so inspired to continue the story I just couldn't stop writing! Normally I would just continue adding to this until Thursday and then post but I feel as if this is a really good place to end the chapter and didn't want to keep you waiting if it's already done. Also I still plan to post on Thursday so why overwhelm you with two chapters at once?**_

_**Alright so two very important notes:**_

_**1. I need a beta. I do not have time to write, let alone edit. I do a quick read over of the story and spell check before posting. That's it. If you are interested in being my beta please either review or PM me.**_

_**2. I was reading a fanfic the other day in which the author took suggestions from readers and loved the way she did it so I'm going to give it a try:**_

_**In five words describe the best place to deliver bad/unwanted news**_

_**That's it for today, please don't forget to review and I will see you on Thursday with a new (and hopefully longer) chapter. **_

_**-Mandie**_


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next few weeks were weird. Hermione had talked to Ginny who agreed to stay with Harry when Hermione told her that she had a friend in need that needed somewhere to live and was embarrassed to be in their current situation. The other girl had of course been curious but decided not to press the matter at all. Hermione and Draco had spent three weeks working together on a press statement for the both of them to release, talking about his change of heart and Hermione saying that she had observed him for long enough to feel satisfied he was not the same pompous brat she'd gone to school with. They talked of nothing about the war other than what to put in the press releases. They didn't have any deep and meaningful conversations. They simply got to know one another.

Hermione learned that Draco enjoyed hard work, so long as it was for something worthwhile. He didn't understand why in the world she would spend hours upon hours out in the garden tending 'weeds' when she could be working. When she confessed to him that she hadn't found what she wanted to do yet he just laughed and told her to open up a book store.

And that is exactly where we find the two teenagers on this fine Wednesday morning, both shivering in the morning chill staring at the front of Flourish and Blots which Hermione now owned. Draco tried hard not to look proud of her, but the truth was that this was something he had always thought she would do and was happy that despite everything from the war she still managed to do it. It had now been seven weeks since he moved in with her and neither spoke of him leaving. He would be working in the store, which was good seeing as according to Ginny Hogwarts was reopening in just a few weeks and theirs was the only store which sold the required text books. Hermione wasn't sure exactly how they would function with only two employees but decided to just wing it for the time being.

Hermione stuck the key into the door and smiled as it swung open the pair walked in. It was just like how she remembered it coming in her at the age of eleven. She vowed to herself that she would keep this shop open as long as she could every day because if there was anyone out there like herself you never knew when the craving for books would appear.

Draco laughed a little at the look of pure happiness on the girls face. She looked so completely in her element that he was once again glad she had gotten the place. It didn't take much convincing really, the previous owner wanted to take his family out of England after the war without looking back. He had signed everything over to Hermione the day she came to talk to him about it and here they were. The bell over the door twinkled and Ginny Weasly walked in with Harry following close behind. Both glowered at Malfoy, but their gazes jumped directly to Hermione and they ran to hug her.

"I'm so glad you two came!" She told them earnestly.

"Well I got my book list this morning and needed to come get them right away so I could be your first sale." Ginny told her friend excitedly. Hermione nodded and took the piece of parchment from her friend's hand, racing off to find the books herself. Ginny and Harry turned awkwardly to Draco and smiled politely.

"I saw your piece in the paper a month ago." Harry told him as way of a greeting.

"Hermione helped me write it." The boy said by way of an answer.

"Why would she do something like that?" Ginny wondered aloud. This irritated Draco a bit even though he tried his hardest not to show it.

"Why don't you go ask her yourself?"

"I think I will." She replied hotly before turning on her heel and storming off. The two boys glanced at each other briefly before deciding to follow and listen in. The many stacks of books helped to conceal them and they stopped just one row away from the two girls, listening closely.

"Hermione why are you doing this to yourself? What is he going to do when he finds out? He is going to freak. And then leave. And then you're going to be all heartbroken and I will have no sympathy for you." They heard a strangled sob and then Ginny quietly soothing the other girl.

"I don't know, he's changed so much though Gin. I feel like I know him so much, like maybe we could cooperate enough for this to work out. He needs help anyway; you should have seen how he was when I found him. Hadn't bathed in days, needed a good meal. And he was civil to me. That was what really stuck."

"Mia you have had a soft spot for this boy since the war ended. Maybe even before then. What happened to change your mind?"  
"We were in the manor. Bellatrix was torturing me, it was agony. Then she made Draco take me into the other room. She made him Ginny, he didn't want to. He was so gentle too, I think that made it worst. I almost feel guilty because it was obvious how much he didn't want to. He even had to use a spell to do it. Afterwards he threw up and looked like this little kid; it looked like he was broken."

"It still doesn't make sense Mia, so he was nice when he raped you? Look you can't even listen to the word! He. Raped. You. I don't care if he had a choice or not. Why in the world would you take pity on him, why would you want to have him as a friend? Why make his life better? How does this benefit you at all?"

"Because I-" there was a large bang as Harry knocked a book off the shelf and Draco turned to him angrily to see the same look reflected in Harry's eyes.

"Shit." He muttered just as the dark haired boy lunged for him. He didn't do anything to block his punches, and was grateful that the other boy seemed to have forgotten his wand. The immense pain he felt was welcome, he had been waiting for someone to blame him for this ever since he got his memories back. He had wanted somebody to hurt him like this so that he could stop hurting himself emotionally. Each blow on his skin was welcome, and he would have smiled were his mouth not full of blood. In the back ground he thought he could hear Hermione saying something and frowned. Knowing her she would get mad at Potter for this, and he didn't want that. She needed her friends.

He opened his eyes as the other boy was pulled off him and blinked, feeling his right eye swelling already.

"What was that?" Hermione screamed as her face turned red. Harry opened his mouth to speak but Draco beat him to it.

"I insulted him. I'm sorry Hermione. I won't do it again." He didn't mean he wouldn't insult Potter again, he meant he would never hurt her again. He was truly sorry when it came to the brown haired girl in front of him.

"Oh, Draco, you idiot." She cried, hugging him tightly. He winced as she crushed what he was sure were broken ribs but hugged her back with just as much enthusiasm. They went back up to the front of the shop where Hermione used a few spells she had learned and fixed him up as best she could, and while being extremely sore at least nothing was visible.

After that Harry and Ginny left, paying for Ginny's books quickly and saying good bye to Hermione. The shop became flooded with customers as Hogwarts students flooded in to get books, and people came just to see the famous Hermione Granger. Come ten o'clock the two were so exhausted Hermione closed up shop and began to tidy everything up, placing books back onto their respective shelves while Draco took care of all the business aspects.

"Hermione?" He called out, she looked up from a stack of books she'd been glancing through, _Running in to giants in Africa Without Magic _clutched in her hand.

"Yes?" He gulped and walked towards her, taking the books from her grasp. His heart was fluttering like crazy, a humming bird whose wings beat against his bruised rib cage. His stomach had dropped and he bit his lip nervously. He set the book onto the table next to her before sitting on it himself. Then he did something unexpected: he pulled her onto his lap, so she was straddling him.

And then he kissed her.

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_**A/N: I know this is really short and I'm sorry, but I will most likely be updating again this weekend so don't fret! Please review and tell me what you think of the story overall and this chapter. Also anyone who can figure out what Hermione was going to say before the fight broke out can name a character in the story :)**_

_**Lots of love**_

_**-Amanda**_


	6. Chapter 5

_Note:_ _In this chapter Hermione makes a reference to the DCI show Spartacus which I am well aware was in the 2008 season, even though this about nine years after the story line. The thing is though that I don't really follow that too closely and it doesn't affect the story what so ever if I don't so just a warning to people that I am aware of this._

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Chapter 5

Hermione was stunned. She didn't know what to do as Draco pulled her into him, and was shocked as his lips met hers. She couldn't breathe. She forgot for a second who this was, who she was kissing. She was so overcome by his scent and heat that she kissed him back, melting at the feel of it. Her head was spinning, so completely out of control. She clutched him closer to her, wanting this to continue forever as their lips melded together perfectly. Then the familiar twist of her stomach had her jumping away from him and running to the bathroom. She just had time to close the door before vomiting violently into the toilet.

"I'm so glad that kissing me makes you puke." Draco said dryly, flushing the toilet and handing her some mouth wash. She smiled up at him sheepishly and took the mouthwash silently, swishing it for several seconds to avoid talking. Once she felt better she took a deep breath and sat atop the toilet lid. Draco sat down on the floor in front of her without pause and looked up at her for an explanation but she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Why did you kiss me?" She asked finally.

"Why did you kiss me back?" He countered. They sat there in silence for several minutes before she finally accepted defeat and made to stand. In one swift motion Draco was also on his feet and kissing her soundly. Before she even had time to react he had released her and was walking away.

The next morning the two proceeded to the shop together in silence. Hermione's mind was whirling as they entered the shop and had another busy day, to the point where the pair hardly ever saw each other. At the end of the day they silently closed up shop and Hermione apperated them both back to her place. Ginny and Harry had officially moved in together and so now Draco had begun to pay rent and with her. The rest of the night passed in complete silence, except for when Hermione had rushed to the bathroom to throw up once again. Finally Draco was fed up with it.

"Granger are you sick?"

"Back to last names are we?" Draco sighed and pulled her onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her. He could see that she was hurting and for some reason it hurt him as well. The more he had gotten to know this girl the more he liked her and he wanted nothing more than for her to be happy all the time. She broke down in his arms and started crying softly, but then her sobs grew in intensity. Draco just held her closer, not knowing what to do. They sat like that for who knows how long, but eventually Hermione started panicking, she was hyperventilating and clawing at her chest which rose in short gasps as her lungs tried desperetly to draw in air. The scar on Draco's neck began to twitch but he ignored it as he tried to calm the girl down. He stroked her hair and held her hand, whispering in her ear that everything was okay. Telling her that he was here for her and just to try and calm down for him. It didn't work though and eventually she passed out.

Draco sighed in defeat as he when to lay her down in her bed. The second she left his arms though his neck burned and he fell on top of her, once his skin was touching hers the burning sensation left him, he frowned. Then he decided to try again, letting go quickly and then reaching for her wrist as his scar burned painfully. He sighed in resignation and curled up behind her, tucking her body into his and drifting off to sleep.

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"Draco?" Draco awoke to a slightly husky voice calling his name softly. He rolled over and pulled the warm thing closer to him, clutching at it desperately as he tried to go back to sleep. Then that warm something moved and ground against his morning wood. He let out an involuntary moan and heard someone chuckle nervously. "Draco you git wake up." Hermione commanded, getting out of the bed.

"No," He whined sleepily, "Come back to me." He dragged out the last syllable as he curled onto his side. Hermione sighed and decided to just leave him; he had been nice enough to help her through her panic attack the night before. She went into the kitchen and started making breakfast for both of them. She hummed happily and realized that this was the best she'd felt in forever, no urge to throw up, no cramps, back aches, panic attacks, soreness. She felt like she could run a marathon. At this thought her mind automatically went in to overdrive:

_A marathon is 26.2 miles because that was the distance from Athens to Marathon in ancient Greece. Ancient Greece also had the Spartans. Her parents took her to America one summer to watch a marching band show called "Spartacus". Marching band…_

Thankfully the dinning of the toaster snapped her out of her thoughts and she rushed to grab the slightly burnt pieces of bread. She scrambled some eggs, throwing in cheese as she did so and smiling at what her parents would have said. Then she frowned. She hadn't thought about her parents since the war was over. She really should go get them back, but in her current situation didn't think that was exactly wise. She knew that as die hard Catholics they would never accept what had happened to their daughter because of the war no matter what. That thought made her chest ache but she pushed it aside for the time being and continued on with making breakfast; no need for panic attacks this early in the morning. Once breakfast was finished she took a plate of food in to Draco and childishly held it under his nose, moving the plate in circles in hopes that the smell of food would awaken him.

Apparently it did, because his hand reached out and tipped the plate into her face. She screamed in surprise and fell backwards into her dresser, now covered in food. Draco sat up laughing hysterically, stopped to breath, took one look at her, and fell back laughing again. She huffed indignity, but as his laughing continued she felt tears well up in her eyes and within seconds she was crying.

"Granger toughen up will you? No use crying over spilled potion. Or scrambled eggs in this case." This just made the girl cry harder and she couldn't understand why. Neither could Malfoy apparently. "Are you pregnant or something? I can't handle all these bloody mood swings!" He huffed angrily and stormed out of the room. Hermione collected herself and stood up, using her wand to clean up the mess he had made. She dried her tears and strode out the door towards the kitchen. She found Draco had duplicated her plate of food and was now eating happily while he read the paper. She took her plate angrily and went out to the balcony, closing the door firmly behind her so as to convey her desire not to have company.

This of course went unnoticed and within minutes she felt two strong hands wrap around her waist.

"You know I didn't mean it Hermione." He whispered, burying his nose in her hair.

"You don't say that to a girl Malfoy." He sighed and released her.

"I know I shouldn't, I was just having a little fun is all. Had I known you'd take it so poorly I would have just skipped it all." She turned back away from him and went back to eating, staring down at the street full of people. "I'm sorry Hermione." He finally said. She turned to him in surprise, setting her plate down on a nearby chair.

"You're sorry?" She asked him to clarify.

"Extremely." He replied rather uncomfortably. She threw herself into his arms almost knocking him over.

"Oh Draco. And I'm sorry I reacted so badly, I honestly don't know what in the world has gotten in to me lately. We'd better get to the shop, we're late already." They gathered their things for the day and apperated together to the front of the shop where there was already a small crowd of teenagers waiting for them impatiently, obviously wanting to be done with their school shopping already. Hermione used her key to open the door and heard Draco mutter something about how muggle it was and her only response was to slap him. They let everyone into the shop and Hermione got to work right away, sending Draco to the counter to ring everyone up while she helped locate books. Three little girls came up to her and told her they need all their books for first year classes but had misplaced their book lists.

"Lucky for you I've got everything sorted by year and subject then. Come along." And she led them to the back of the shop where indeed she had gotten an extra book list from every year and subject, tacked it to the wall, and piled the corresponding books underneath it. She had each of the three girls a stack of books and smiled brightly; directing them to Draco at the front and laughing when one blushed and began talking to her friends about how cute he was. And so it went for the rest of the day, Hermione led many Hogwarts students back to that section, and many elderly wizards to the large print section, aurors to the legal one, and so one. She occasionally saw people she knew such as Luna. Her meeting with Luna had been rather weird though.

As soon as the blond walked in to the shop she came directly up to Hermione and hugged her tightly, a gesture which Hermione returned enthusiastically. They made small talk for a few minutes before out of nowhere Luna had shushed her and took a step backwards to admire her.

"Your chest is bigger." She told Hermione evenly, not a hint of embarrassment in her voice.

"Yes, I suppose it is." Hermione replied self-consciously. The other girl continued to study her for a few more minutes, far past the point of it being awkward before her eyes grew wider than normal. She pulled Hermione closer to her.

"I know your secret." She told her, then looked around to see if they were alone before whispering it to her.

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**_A/N: Alright you guys, that's chapter five :) hehe I'm so sleep drunk right now... anywho I hope you liked the chapter, please tell me what you did or did not like._**

**_If you get bored while waiting please check out my other Dramione _****_I Dream of Ignis._**

**_Also, I am starting a book club of sorts on youtube and obviously people on this site are fans of reading so what are some books I should read for this?_**

**_Please leave reviews, they make me smile! I want your feedback good or bad, and my offer still stands that the first person to guess Hermione's secret or finish her sentence from last chapter gets to name a very important character in the story :)_**

**_Alright lovelies, goodnight, and please review!_**

**_-Mandie_**


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